Robber wearing fake beard holds up Linden bank

Two banks in Lafayette and a third bank south of Lafayette have been robbed since Aug. 5. The description of the robber is similar in all three robberies. In the Aug. 5 robbery at the Centier Bank in Lafayette, pictured on the left, the suspect was clean shaven and wore sunglasses. In the Sept. 4 robbery in Linden, pictured in the middle, the suspect has wears thin, wire-framed glasses, a fake beard and a wig. In the Aug. 26 robbery at the Regions Bank in Lafayette, the suspect wore a fake beard, thin, wire-framed glasses, latex gloves and a baseball cap.(Photo: Photo provided)

LINDEN — An armed robber pulled a handgun and held up the Hoosier Heartland State Bank on the northwest corner of Walnut and Meridian streets in Linden about noon Wednesday.

He spoke briefly with a teller to demand the cash, Montgomery County Sheriff Ryan Needham said. Needham said he did not know the specific conversation.

The robber ran north out of the bank, and a police dog track was unsuccessful, Needham said.

This man robbed the Hoosier Heartland State Bank in Linden about noon Wednesday.(Photo: Provided/Montgomery County Sheriff's Office)

The bandit is described as white, between 6-feet and 6-foot-2, Needham said. The robber was estimated to weigh about 200 pounds.

He wore a fake gray beard.

The bank surveillance photo released by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office also shows the robber wearing what appears to be a gray wig and thin, wire-framed glasses.

About the time the bank alarm came into the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Chris Cooper was trying to get to her house, which is across the street from the bank.

"I was just right outside of town," she said. "Then when I tried to come home, I obviously couldn’t at first because everywhere was blocked by the police.”

A neighbor helped her search outside of her house, and the barking dogs inside the house assured her no one made it inside the home, she said.

The robbery right across the street from her home doesn't give her pause about living in Linden.

“This is probably one of the best little towns I’ve ever lived in," Cooper said. "I’ve lived in big cities, and I‘ve lived in small towns. I would much choose this place over most other places I’ve lived.”

Her husband, who's lived there for more than a decade, assured her that bank robberies are not uncommon.

“He said, ‘It’s happened multiple times. This isn’t the first time it’s been robbed,’” Cooper said.

The robber's description is similar to a man who held up two Lafayette banks in August.

On Aug. 5, a robber described as a white man about 6-feet tall held up the Centier Bank at the northeast corner of Executive Drive and South Street.

That robber wore sunglasses and a dark sock cap. A short time after the robbery, police also found a bag and cash discarded near Greenbush Street and Sagamore Parkway.